The Happiness Project

10th of March ~

“It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.” G. K. Chesterton

I am a huge fan of Gretchen Rubin. First, I followed her blog and now I’m buying multiple copies of The Happiness Project and sharing it with friends and family. Why do I like her book so much?

Structure

Gretchen was trained as an attorney and later realized that she really wanted to be a writer. With several books to her credit and an orderly mind she approached her quest for greater happiness with admirable organization. From her Twelve Personal Commandments and Four Splendid Truths to the monthly areas of focus she addresses multiple aspects of positive psychology.

Practicality

She alludes to the research but she doesn’t dwell on it. This is not a book for academics. This is a book for people who want actionable ideas. Each month, for her Happiness Project, she selected an area of focus. Each of the areas was broken down into several sub-topics. Her objectives are tangible. She writes:

Resolutions work better when they’re concrete, not abstract: it’s harder to keep a resolution to “Be a more loving parent” than to “Get up fifteen minutes early so I’m dressed before the kids wake up.”

Honesty

Like my other memoir heroine, Elizabeth Gilbert, Gretchen writes with personal voice. She takes a frank look in the mirror and doesn’t whitewash her faults. She shares a lame drawing from her first day in an art class and describes her cranky moments in detail. I liked her better for her foibles.

Inspiration

She’s clearly struck a chord with readers because Happiness Project groups are popping up all over. She is generous with her tools and has created a Happiness Toolbox site.

Finally, I felt she understood a dynamic that I’ve often experienced in my life: the tendency to underrate enthusiastic people. In November she has a resolution to “Give Positive Reviews”.

Giving positive reviews requires humility. I have to admit, I missed the feelings of superiority that I got from using puncturing humor, sarcasm, ironic asides, cynical comments, and cutting remarks. A willingness to be pleased requires modesty and even innocence–easy to deride as mawkish and sentimental.

Yup. Love this book.

2 Responses to “The Happiness Project”

This reminded me of something I heard a long time ago and it really hit home for me. -It took generations and millennia for mankind to achieve the creative technology of a railroad. It only takes one jerk with a crowbar to derail the whole thing!- So important to the creative process to set aside that critical side of ourselves, and yet we are so rewarded for that from our earliest days in school. The first one to find what was wrong with something someone else did or said was the best! Now, if I could only remember that every time in the moment! Working on it.
by: Michele Brooks on: Monday 15th of March 2010
Yes, that IS the challenge Michele--to bite back on that oh-so-intelligent evaluation and find something to value. I'm working on it too!
by: mkolkena on: Wednesday 17th of March 2010

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